Stray
by bananacreampuff
Summary: After the shittiest day of her entire life, Santana returns home to find a homeless girl in front of her apartment. After taking care of the girl, Santana is horrified that the girl has no intention of leaving. Jokingly, Santana says she'll allow the girl to stay if she becomes her pet, and strangely the girl accepts.


A/N: A Brittana story inspired by the Yayoi Ogawa's _Kimi Wa Petto_.

* * *

"I heard what happened," her tone wasn't at all judgmental, but the fact that she was basically expecting an elaboration bothered Santana. Her day had gone from awful to just plain shit and she was hoping to finish the night without another reminders of today's events. Yes, the woman was her best friend, but that didn't give her special treatment to a please-don't-ruin-Santana's-day-even-more moment.

"I mean, we all knew you were too good for him. He was a bartender with childish, unrealistic dreams of becoming some rock god in Los Angeles. Girls were throwing themselves at him all the time trying to get a free drink; you know how it's like, we used to do the same thing," the woman paused as she gazed intently at an indifferent Santana, the latter was picking at the calluses on her fingers. They've been friends for more than fifteen years and in spite of that she still found it impossible sometimes to gauge Santana's feelings. It seemed so long ago, those college years of hopping from bar to bar armed with fake IDs in hand and the most seductive and flirtatious personas. They'd flirt with the bartenders as much as possible to score a free shot or two or three… And that was how the Santana met him anyway. It was during a great celebration of Santana getting into medical school, she just happened to stumble into Pork's and fall for the badass with the stupid mohawk.

"It really doesn't matter anymore," Santana sighed, a bit annoyed that she was definitely going to have to have this conversation… again. "I should just be glad that I found out about all this crap before he moved in, or even worse, before the wedding."

"It obviously does or you wouldn't have snapped at him like that. I heard you caused a big scene at the clinic; worried a lot of people," the blonde reached over to place her hand on Santana's arm, it was an empathetic gesture and she could feel how tense Santana had been clenching her fist.

"And who told you that?" Santana gritted her teeth, at the sudden realization that maybe everyone in their little friendship circle was going to know the details of her private life, especially if the person who told was…

"Tina."

_Of course_, Santana thought to herself, that girl couldn't keep a secret to save all her family's honor. It didn't help that Tina also happened to be the main assistant of the clinic and was always at least ten feet away from Santana. She already knew the answer to her question, Tina was the only one that was actually there during the fight. She was pissed, and when she gets pissed she tends to go all Lima Heights Adjacent on people's asses, habits are hard to break.

"How much exactly do you know?" Santana asked as she leaned forward, now completely interested about the gossip that was going around bout her.

"She told me you may have broken his face," the blonde held back a chuckle from the last part. Secretly she was proud that her friend was finally dumping her loser of a fiancé, which meant no more maid of honor duties for her. "And that your dad asked you to take a break from work…"

"When did Tina decide that to have a little Joy Luck Club featuring stories and adventures from the life of Santana Lopez," she rolled her eyes because thanks to Tina, everyone Santana and her possibly know was going to know that one, the marriage was off, and two, she temporarily lost her job. She couldn't wait for more people asking her out to lunches and dinners to talk about the problem.

"So you want to talk about it? Or maybe rant about it? I know you do," the other woman smirked as she leaned back against the hard plastic of the seat. It was a Thursday night and the two of them had decided to go get Italian cuisine at the wonderful gourmet restaurant known as Sbarro. It wasn't Breadstix, but the two of them have loved crappy Italian since high school and it had become sort of a tradition to eat at such a restaurant during deep conversations.

"God, Quinn, really? Let's see do I really want to relive my shitty day?" Santana returned a forced smile, before reaching between them to grab a slice of an already cold pepperoni pizza.

"C'mon you broke his face that's gotta be a highlight or something," the woman named Quinn replied as she followed Santana's suit in eating a slice.

"Uh, fine, but since it's better to hear what actually happened than what Cohen-Chang-squared probably downsized it to be," Santana took a big chunk of the pizza and before even swallowing (she was way past needing to feel polite and proper around Quinn) she began her story.

_It was lunchtime and Santana was sitting in her office trying to finish a dictation of her patient when an email notification popped onto her computer that alarmed her. Her eyebrows furrowed at the subject line and she immediately placed down her recorder, her attention had been reverted to this strange email. Before even clicking it open, her heart rate began to accelerate and she could feel her hands trembling as she reached for the mouse. It was just short of three months before her wedding and she was really hoping there wouldn't be anything that would fuck it up. She reread the subject line one more time just to be sure that it really stated what it did._

_I'm pregnant with his child. He's mine._

_As though trying to calm herself, she breathed in slowly through her nose and exhaled from her mouth. It was just as her therapist told her, she had to relax. After all, this could be some prank, a horrible prank, so it didn't mean it necessarily was real. Finally, she clicked the email and watched as pictures of her fiancé and some unknown blonde girl popped up on the screen. Horrified, she scrolled through the pictures one by one as images of the two making out, naked together in bed, and pictures of intimate dates appeared. It was a very unsettling feeling, but the worst was when she finally got to the bottom where two pictures fit the screen. One was of the woman with a very round and protruding stomach, with her medical expertise, she could estimate the woman was maybe seven months along, and then another picture of a scanned document claiming that Noah Puckerman was indeed the father. At that moment, Santana felt time stopped. She quickly scrolled all the way up and looked through the images again just to make sure that her eyes had not deceived her. And she saw how happy Noah was with this blonde, she felt pools of tears stinging her eyes demanding to escape. The moment she blinked, the tears cascaded down her cheeks threatening to soon stain her patient's charts._

"_What the fuck," she enunciated each word harshly to no one in particular. "This better be a fucking joke."_

_Moments later, had it been moments Santana had really lost track of time, she heard Tina knocking on her door. _

"_Santana," Tina started, her head peaking behind the door. Quickly, Santana grabbed a tissue to wipe away any evidence of her crying. _

"_How many times have I told you, it's Dr. Lopez," Santana responded automatically. Though they've been friends since high school, Santana loved to remind others of her title. After years of studying and determination, she had finally gotten her degree and passed her boards with ease. Of course she was going to ask every person she knew possible to call her doctor. _

"_My ass I'm going to call your egotistical self Dr. Lopez when there aren't patients around. By the way, lover boy is here for you!" Tina covered her mouth to hide a giggle. Tina was probably the only person who really supported her relationship with Noah. When the two first started dating, most of her friends were shocked that Santana would be with someone so… beneath her. He didn't have a college education, he dressed like an extra from Grease, and he acted like a huge big shot rocker when really he was a bartender who occasionally sang with his band here and there. But that's what Santana liked him, he didn't give a fuck about the fact that she made more than him, that she was intellectually superior, financially superior, and unbelievably gorgeous (if she would say so herself). He made her feel relaxed and their two years together had been filled with so much spontaneity and fun, Santana couldn't help but say yes when he asked her to marry him. And now with the news that he could be the father of some whore's child (she still hoped it was a random groupie who was making the entire thing up), she was feeling a lot less certain about their relationship. All the little things that suddenly bothered her about him came to haunt her, and the more she thought about it the more she was furious that she let her walls down to such an idiot. _

"_Oh oh, and he probably doesn't want me to let you know, but he brought a beautiful bouquet of roses for you! Isn't that so sweet! Is he taking you out to lunch too?"_

"_Tina?" Santana asked with a pointed tone._

"_Yes?" _

"_Can you fetch me a lovely vase for those flowers from the downstairs gift shop?" Santana said as she took off her white coat and placed it on the back of chair. _

"_Santana, I know I'm your primary medical assistant and all, but that doesn't mean –" _

"_Any will do, thanks so much Tina," Santana interrupted as she pat Tina gently on the arm and walked right past her. "And use the other door, Noah and I want to have our privacy you know?"_

_As she walked through the halls of the clinic, she looked at the creepy decorations of happy children and animals plastered all over the wall, children and animals that she had hoped to one day have with Noah. Her father had been the one who chose the décor believing that the images of happy kids would make kids less scared about the doctor. She wondered if she should tell them it probably horrified the kids more than anything else – those giant toothy grins stretching across one's entire face. Hadn't her dad seen the Black Dahlia or the Dark Knight? And yes she does work for her father, but only because one day she's going to be the one that takes over the family clinic. Her peers might hate her for the fact she was able to secure a job so easily, but whatever, who was she to deny an easy path through life? _

_Once she opened the door, Noah stood up from his seat, his hands gripping exactly what Tina had mentioned. He was wearing a plaid button up (but of course he'd leave that open) with a black tank on the inside. Noah, or Puck as he liked to be called since it was his stage name, smiled at the sight of his beautiful fiancé and extended the flowers toward her. However, rather than smile back and accept the flowers, Santana's hand went back and then surged forward right for his face. Santana was so grateful that they usually close the clinic for an hour or so during lunch otherwise she'd be certain what she was doing would get her license revoked. _

"_Ow! Babe, what the fuck!" his hand went to his cheek, whilst his face displayed a clear form of shock. Eyebrows raised and mouth open like a cow, exactly the stupid face she had thought he'd have when she slapped him. She shook her own hand from the recoil of the slap, but made it clear that she probably was going to do it again._

"_Who is she?" she asked with an annoyed smirk. _

"_Who are you talking about?" Puck questioned back. Santana moved forward to hit him again, and in anticipation he raised his arms to block the blows._

"_Blonde, silicone implants that'll make her boobs sag to the floor in a couple years, ready to pop , maybe works as a hooker, maybe not," she listed as a test. If Noah was honest about all this he's smirk right back at her and play along. He's smirk and put his arms around her waist and whisper something stupid like "you mean you if you were blonde?" He's say something, something that would make her feel relieved because he didn't cheat. But if he did, if he had been lying and had been having an affair, he was going to feign innocence._

"_Huh?"_

_And she got her answer. _

"_The girl you fucked and got pregnant, asshole!" She screamed at him as she threw her fists at him determined to make sure a punch would land on him. She was furious because how could she not have realized it. "All those times you were supposed to be practicing with the boys, you were with her, weren't you! Weren't you!"_

"_San! Fuck! Babe, stop it!" he grabbed at her wrists to halt her actions. As a meathead who worked five times a week, he was stronger than her and she knew that. Frustrated, she struggled in his grasp, her unrelenting attacks not really letting him communicate with her. _

"_Cut the bullshit, Noah. I saw the pictures. Your little whore emailed them to me," she retorted venomously. Memories flashed in her mind of times he praised and showered her with words of affection. All lies. _

"_What?" his face contorted at the realization._

"_Don't play stupid with me, Noah! I know what I saw!" and suddenly she could feel the tears again. To make it worse she was publicly humiliating herself even further with her outrage in front of her patients. "How could you do that to me?"_

"_Ally told you? Fuck…" he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "I was going to tell you today... you know to break off the wedding and all."_

_She almost vomited at his words. How could he try to make better of this situation when he had this affair, and who knows how many he had had before this one. She felt so stupid, he had been cheating on her after all. Everyone had told her that he was a scumbag, someone who shouldn't really be trusted given his reputation, but she gave him a chance. _

"_So you admit it? You… cheated on me?" once the words left her mouth, the truth rung harder in her ears. Her fiancé, her fiancé that she was going to marry in three months, cheated on her. And he had gotten that girl pregnant. _

"_I got shitfaced one night and this girl, she loved my music and she's been to every concert, and I don't know, we drank together and one thing lead to – " her hand collided against his face again. _

"_Don't you dare blame this on the alcohol! Alcohol is an inanimate object! The alcohol didn't tell you to sleep with her! It didn't even tell you to drink it! That was all you, Noah!" _

"_I was going to break it off today! I didn't want you to know why! I was trying to save you from all this!" he yelled at her, but this time allowing her to hit him since he figured it'd help her release all her anger. He had hoped once she calmed down, they could converse like adults about the situation._

"_You were going to break up with me? And not even tell me why?!" she was in absolute disbelief, he had known… he had known all this time. And that explained why he never made an effort to move his stuff into their new apartment! That explained all the times he wanted extra money to find stuff for his new room, but was probably helping to pay medical bills for that girl._

"_Fuck, why didn't Ally believe me that I'd handle this," he muttered under his breath. _

"_She's pregnant, Santana! I can't just leave her and the kid, I can't be like my dad. You know what he did to me!" he yelled back, thinking himself to be very responsible for his actions. When he was younger, his father had slept with another woman and abandoned him and his mother. He grew up hating his father and eventually even met his half-brother; turns out his father didn't stick along with that kid either._

"_No, you turned out exactly like your father, Noah!" she accused as she pushed him with all her strength. "You went out and cheated on him just like he did to your mother!"_

"_Well I wouldn't have if you weren't always busy!" he shouted angrily. She had hit a sore spot with him and she knew he was going to try to put the fault on her. "Maybe if you were actually home more often, I wouldn't have to go find a good fuck somewhere else!"_

_Suddenly the front door opened again and there was Tina happily grinning with a vase in hand completely oblivious to what was happening. "Dr. Lopez? A vase for your lovely flowers?"_

_Santana's head whipped at the sight of the glass vase and a horrible plan entered her mind, the effects of being raised in Lima Heights Adjacent she'd tell you. She promptly thanked Tina for bringing the vase and quickly snatched it from her. Then she walked briskly to Noah and slammed the vase as hard as she could into his face._

"_Oh my God, Santana!" Tina quickly ran over to stop Santana from bashing the remains into his face. _

"_You bastard! You fucking asshole! I'm busy because I fucking have a real job! I work my ass off to pay for your stupid rock wannabe lifestyle and this is what I get?" Santana screamed as she writhed in Tina's grip. She chucked whatever was left in her hand at him. "Fuck you. We're done. I never want to see you in my life again and I'm keeping my ring since I was the one who fucking bought it, you cheapass fucktard!"_

"Holy shit? Did you kill him?" Quinn cracked up at the recount of the story, and even though Santana felt great for destroying Noah's moneymaker, she still felt like she was ultimately the one who lost. She was the one who lost her fiancé. She was the one who was lied to.

"No, I probably just knocked him out. Probably broke his nose honestly, but his face is going to be so swollen I'd bet he feel like it's death since no girl will want to even look at him again."

"What happened after?" Quinn asked then taking another slice of pizza. Santana stared at Quinn for a second, noticing that the other was taking this a lot better than she thought. There was a glint in Quinn's eye, something that said she didn't really believe her story, but she'd allow it to be the truth. For that, Santana was grateful she was still able to save a bit of face.

"Tina basically forced me into my office and threatened if I came out she'd reveal my horrible secret to my father that I've downloaded porn on my work computer," Santana confessed not caring if Quinn knew. In fact, she could count the many times the two of them have watched it together as a sort of joke.

"Wow, and I guess she called 9-1-1 or something?"

"Nah, just my father, which is worse. The old man came immediately from his lunch with a colleague and was pissed. He asked Tina to send Noah to a friend of his, keep things on the down low I guess. I'm lucky this happened during lunch and no one was in the waiting room or god all my years of studying would've been wasted."

"Your dad's pissed, huh?" Quinn worried.

"He thinks I could have handled the situation a lot better, but considering the circumstances I think he cut me a bit slack. I am his only daughter and future heirless to the amazing Lopez pediatrics clinic."

"So why'd he put you on break?" the blonde asked as she pushed the last slice of pizza toward Santana.

"Eh, just being my dad you know? He knows I'm probably not going to be able to do my job well. Told me some bullshit like…"

"_Santana, you've been working since you've gotten out of school. You graduated high school, went to NYU, then went to Columbia medical school, then did your residency there, and when you finished and passed everything you started immediately working for me," her father stated, his hands folded neatly in front of him and his gaze stern. _

"_Yeah, I like work and have no life, I get it, Dad, what's your point."_

"_My point, my love, is that I think you need a break. I think you need some time to have fun and relax, get away from it all you know?" he removed his glasses to rub his temples, the whole situation had stressed him considerably out._

"_Great, tell me where Noah is right now and I'll go finish him off, that'll probably be fun and relaxing."_

"_Santana, you broke his nose, there are lacerations all over his face, and you possibly shifted his mandible from that attack. He could press charges on you and you'd have your license revoked. How could you act so irresponsibly," her father groaned at the thought of how many favors he would have to repay his colleagues. _

"_Oh, so that's why I'm getting a break. You don't think I can handle losing my fiancé and work," Santana said defensively as she crossed her arms in front of her. _

"_No, I don't think it, I know you can't. He may not have been the son-in-law I was hoping for, but I know that you were fond of him. It hurts, Santana, it's okay to be upset at these things." Ever since Santana was small she had this strange notion to act tougher than she was. Perhaps living in a small town like Lima wasn't as welcoming to Hispanics as he had hoped for her, and it wasn't like she would ever try to communicate with him. _

"_But you're still worried it'll impact my work…"_

"_Yes, I'll be honest; I don't think you'll be able to fully use that beautiful noggin of yours with all that… rage and sadness up in there." He walked towards her to gently kiss her on the top of her head. Santana, who was still sitting in her seat, closed her eyes in a flutter at the affection. She was grateful that her father cared, but she was also internally upset for disappointing him._

"_I can handle it, it's fine, it's not the end of the world," she breathed out. _

"_Santana…"_

"_I'm fine, Dad."_

"_Maybe at the moment, but I know as soon as you go home, you're going to break down and begin that self-doubt again. I want you to do that, but not worry about work. Work on yourself, how about that?" There had been a few times though, that he had seen his daughter breakdown, or not even seen, but heard. Sometimes late at night, he heard Santana crying out her insecurities thinking no one heard, and he hated himself for not knowing what to do to make his little girl better. _

"_Maybe I do work because I don't want to think about it, Dad, have you thought of that?"_

"_So, work on yourself."_

"_That's not actual work, Dad. I don't want to fix when there's nothing wrong with me," she lied, her heart clearly a bit broken from everything. However, that was her personality, she wanted someone to care. So she'd build walls around herself to not only block out others, but to see who would care enough to break them down._

"_Fine, if you're going to be difficult about this young lady, then as your employer I demand that you take a break, and you may not return until I believe you are fit to." _

"_Great… and what, not have any income to pay for myself? Real smart, Dad," Santana grumbled, "And I'm not as emotionally weak as you think I am. Doctors have to deal with their personal life shit all the time."_

"_You will have a paid leave. And you're not just anyone, you're my daughter, Santana. You've been working for seven years and you haven't even taken a break besides holidays. Enjoy yourself."_

"_You know, I'm going to go buy myself the biggest house possible in… say Los Angeles. I heard Kim Kardshian's looking at this house and I want to get dibs before she and Kanye…" Santana started, trying to give her dad once last chance at knowing that this was probably going to be a bad idea._

"_Santana, just be happy," he said slightly exhausted. Santana then took a good look at him, and could see how genuine he was. It was hard to be happy considering how she just lost her fiancé and her father was taking away the only distraction she could have from said fiancé. _

"_Okay dad…" she stood up ready to leave. She knew no matter what her father wasn't going to let her come back until she proved that the whole Noah situation wasn't going to bother her, "I'll try."_

"_Santana," her father called out and as Santana turned around she was surprised to find herself in her father's embrace. "Your mother and I will always be here if you need us okay? Now go home and rest. I'll see you later,"_

"That's nice of him, what are you going to do?" Quinn asked as she also signaled to a waiter so she could pay for their dinner.

"I'm not too sure… It's been so long since I've had so much freedom and time to myself."

"You can go shopping, maybe return that ring?" her green irises glancing down at the ring that was still lying on Santana's finger.

"No, I… I think I'll keep it."

"It's not going to remind you of him?" Quinn questioned, knowing that deep down Santana was probably still hurt from everything. "Are you sure that's a good idea."

"I'm going to keep it as a reminder that the only person who deserves me is me," she said sadly. "Oh fuck, I don't know we'll see, maybe I'll return it, get myself something nicer instead."

"Are you okay, Santana?"

"I will be… or I hope so at least."

"If you need me…"

"I know, I know. And thanks Quinn, and if this story gets repeated – "

"I swear to juice up the details to make sure everyone knows that you came out cool and collected and it didn't even faze you," Quinn placed a twenty on the check and got up to hug her best friend. And that's exactly how Santana wanted it to be like, that she was fine. Of course, she'd probably have to tell Quinn the real version, but she'd save that for another time.

"Love you, Fabray," Santana made sure to demonstrate just how much in her hug. She wasn't also that great with words, and so she tried to let her actions explain her feelings.

"Love you right back, Lopez, and don't ever forget it."

As the two women parted ways, Santana called herself a cab. She could've walked home, like Quinn was, but decided that heels fucking hurt and she didn't need to inflict any more pain on herself – emotional or physical. The cab smelled awful like of mothballs and cigarettes, just another minor thing to add to her shit list. After telling the driver her destination, she slipped back into the memory of what really happened with Noah.

"_Noah, hey, what brings you here?" her voice was laced with nervousness. Even as she opened the partition to the lobby, she could feel her hands shaking. The pictures sent to her had left her in a state of shock and she prayed to God that they weren't real. _

"_Flowers for the beautiful lady," Noah smiled his stupid smile, the same one that had won her heart so many years ago._

"_Oh stop, you know flowers don't work on me, I'm kind of a bling bling type remember?" she slightly joked trying to calm herself. She reached to accept the flowers, and was slightly concerned that even after three years of dating he doesn't realize that she hates tulips._

"_Yeah about that… needed to talk to you about a certain bling bling you have," he cocked his head toward her left hand._

"_Okay…" she held her breath at his next words._

"_I think we should call off the wedding." And there it was, Noah was calling off the ending. He did it, he cheated on her, Santana felt her heart shatter._

"_Are you going to tell me why?" she did her best to fight back the tears, but her emotions were getting to the best of her. Was this her fault? Was she the reason for the break-up? Was she not good enough?_

"_It just wouldn't work out, you as such a high profile doctor lady and me… this bartender, I make what half of what you make?" he shrugged._

"_Not even close…" Santana muttered, she made probably ten times more than he did._

"_Exactly, and your friends and parents hate me. And they say I'm not good enough, and it sucks you know? It fucking blows having to hear people whisper over and over that you're not good enough," Noah spat out. _

"_So you're breaking up with me because of some inferiority complex?" a tear rolled down her cheek at the fact that he didn't even think she deserved an explanation. Her left hand went to cover her mouth as a gasp came out. "Not for some other reason. Please, Noah, if it's just that I don't care. It doesn't matter what others think as long as we have each other. Please don't leave."_

"_You deserve someone who would make you happy, I'm not that guy," he shrugged. "I'm going to be a famous rock star one day, Santana. I'll be traveling all the time and we won't even see each other." _

"_Then why did you propose, why did you even go along with this? Why even go through so much of this shit that we're going to do together," she asked, getting more and more annoyed that he wouldn't just speak the truth. More tears began to fall down her face and at this point she didn't know if it was due to sadness, disappointment, anger, or frustration._

"_I don't know you kept bringing it up and I thought that's what I had to do to keep you, but then…"_

_But then you went and fucked another girl, she said to herself._

"_Don't get me wrong, you were great. This was the longest relationship I've ever had, but I'm not the right guy for you. Just trust me when I say that maybe your parents were right about me," he grabbed her by the shoulders so he could look her in the eye, "I'm a piece of shit."_

And that was when Tina walked in with the vase and she impulsively smashed it on his face. The rest of the story from then on out was true, but of course Santana didn't want to tell Quinn that. She was too embarrassed, and didn't need more "I told you so's" from anyone. After paying her cab driver, she walked towards her new apartment – the one she and Noah were supposed to live together in. She now understood why he kept delaying to sell his apartment and move into their new one – he never even intended to live with her. She supposed she could turn his bedroom into a workout room, set up a punching bag with his face on it. Just as she approached her building, she saw an extremely large box sitting a couple feet from her building, just the icing to the cake of her day.

"What the hell? Who the fuck left this?" She asked herself as she went over to the large box. There was no label on it, nothing to indicate who left their trash. Santana rolled her eyes and after everything that happened, she gathered her frustration to kick the box, but was surprised that it felt like there was something still in the box. Curiously, she inched to the top to lift one of the flaps to see exactly what was inside, she certainly wasn't expecting what she saw.

"_Shit! It's a body."_

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Like it? Hate it? Grammatical/spelling errors anywhere? Let me know! Leave a potato :).


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